


The Politics of an Imaginary World

by Lyraspace



Category: Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends
Genre: Art inside, Cartoon Network - Freeform, Civil Rights Movement, Essays, Foster's Home Amino, Inequality, Nostalgia, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Other, Politics, Social Justice, The world of Foster's is really messed up when you sit down and think about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:27:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24746794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyraspace/pseuds/Lyraspace
Summary: A brief analysis of the dark underbelly of dehumanization and systemic discrimination found within the cartoon, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
Kudos: 11





	The Politics of an Imaginary World

[SlimyCretin's Post ](https://aminoapps.com/c/fh4if/page/blog/hello-im-new/M8Gx_BEhkugMboVaBj60pjE51m2aKLMVRL) on Amino about their AU idea of an "Anti-Imaginary Friends Agency" re-inspired me to finally elaborate in detail about my ideas/plot bunnies of the more interesting, yet hardly explained aspects of the Foster's world; it's politics, and exactly where Imaginary Friends stand within them.

The first, yet most obvious concept of this issue is the premise of the show itself. The fact that a Foster Home/Boarding House for abandoned Imaginary Friends even needs to exist in the first place, when it is quite clear that they are sentient and oftentimes sapient creatures, reveals the dark underbelly of the dehumanization of Imaginary Friends in this world. It is heavily implied that Foster's is the only place like it that exists, and without it and it's system of adoption, Imaginary Friends would have no place else to go.

It's not like Imaginary Friends could ever truly become independent on their own in this system anyway.

Not only is there evidence of housing and job discrimination for Imaginary Friends within the Foster's world, there is also evidence to suggest that Imaginary Friends are seen on the same level as animals, or worse, possessions. I could very easily see the idea that Imaginary Friends are paid substantially less than their human counterparts, even with the disparaging pay gaps found with human wages.

(Also imagine the horrible idea that if such an atrocity as the [Family Separation Policy ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_administration_family_separation_policy) , or an equivalent to it, were to be implemented in the Foster's world, Imaginary Friends could be separated from their creators as part of this system.)

However, within my development of these ideas, I discovered that Wilt's story is the most damning evidence of the systemic discrimination of Imaginary Friends.

While we as an audience learn the story of how Wilt ended up losing his arm in the movie "Good Wilt Hunting," the one thing that bothered me years later was the implications of how a broken arm leads to full amputation. One may suggest that it was too broken to be saved, but suggesting the idea that fixing his arm was a possibility, two other scenarios that are just as plausible follow suit (the former being much more likely to be canon than the latter, I'll admit):

**A: Wilt was too ashamed of what had happened to get his arm looked at, and by the time he finally decided to get treated, it was too late to save it.**

**B: Wilt tried to get treatment, but he was turned away due to the idea that hospitals are only for "real people", and by the time he found a place willing to treat him, it was too late to save his arm.**

It should come naturally that doctors in the Foster's world might show an aversion to offering medical care for Imaginary Friends, due to their bizarre and oftentimes inhuman anatomy. It would only seem like a given that likewise to the segregation of hospitals prior to the Civil Rights Movement, there would be hospitals that would outright refuse to treat Imaginary Friends due to this reasoning. Wilt's creation being sometime in the 1970's could only add to this argument because while there may have been a massive improvement in Civil Rights for humans in the decade prior, similar rights for Imaginary Friends may not have been considered very much, if at all. This re-contextualizes the infirmary found within the walls of Foster's; once upon a time, it may have been the only place specifically designed to offer medical treatment for Imaginary Friends.

My very first post on the Foster's Home Amino was the link to my fanfiction, [Give a Cry out for Liberty](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21994615/chapters/52486210), that was my attempt of trying to implement these ideas in a dramatic fashion. While I now realize that I might have bitten off more than I could chew trying to stuff all these ideas into one fanfiction, I knew I had to get these ideas out somehow. What would trigger the realization within the gang at Foster's that living there made them the lucky ones? What about the Imaginary Friends that never get the opportunity to find a place like Foster's? My fanfiction tried to answer these questions, with the climax of the story being the gang becoming the front-runners to a brand new Civil Rights Movement, this one being specifically for Imaginary Friends.

So going back to SlimyCretin's [Anti Imaginary Friends Agency](https://aminoapps.com/c/fh4if/page/blog/hello-im-new/M8Gx_BEhkugMboVaBj60pjE51m2aKLMVRL) AU; if such a organization were to exist in the Foster's world, surely the gang at Foster's would be right at the front lines to fight back!


End file.
